Dunbar Residents Association News and Events

Hi ! Yes just this year in Dunbar we have added one more species of hummer to our” wintering over population”, it is the COSTA’S ,Calypte costae ! Wow in Dunbar one of Vancouver’s great places for year long” Wild Bird Watching”, has some how been chosen to look after just ONE SPECIAL BIRD, staying for this Winter, the lovely Costa’s Humming Bird!

She (or he) is a” Wild Desert Hummer” that are known to spend most of their time poking their long beaks into flowers that bloom near the edges of towns in Arizona and California ! The first sightings and positive identification by birders, took place this summer on the West side of Dunbar ! She visited our backyard feeder at 33rd. and Camosun and two others in the neighbourhood . Wow it was something very special as we watched all summer and fall long as she visited with Anna’s and Rufous hummers, the competition was fierce for the nectar plants we planted in our front and backyard yard humming bird flower garden .

Would she stay the winter with our Anna’s was the question on our minds , and if so could she learn the lessons of winter survival from the Anna’s ? Yesterday morning we heard the light Tik , Tik scolding sounds near our feeder and she was visiting about every 5 minutes for quite awhile , then off to the other West Dunbar Feeding locations ! Yes she is has learned the winter survival skills well from her Anna’s friends on the West side of Dunbar .

I was asked just a few days ago if I was taking a winter holiday , the answer was No , it seems I have a” Winter Humming Bird Feeding Job” to do, living on the West Side of Dunbar ! Terry Slack ” From the Costa’s Humming Bird Feeders of West Dunbar “

DUNBAR RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

This year’s AGM is for those who love their gardens (or wish that they could) or who think that, given a chance, they could become an urban farmer…we have a group of experts who can enlighten you on just about any aspect of gardening that you could imagine.

Monday, November 15, 2010; 7:00 -10:00 p.m.

St. Philip’s Church, 3737 West 27th Avenue

7:00 Business Meeting including election of 2010/2011 directors

7:30 Program: Panel Discussion, followed by Questions from the floor

9:15 Join us for coffee, tea and cookies

PANEL DISCUSSION

Sustainable Gardens for a Sustainable Neighbourhood

Panelists:

• Allen Garr, Journalist and Urban Beekeeper
• Jordan McDonald, certified horticulturist and co-owner of KJM Country Gardens
• Sharon Slack from City Farmer
• Julia Smith and Ann Pacey from the Dunbar Transition Village
• Will Valley, co-founder of Inner City Farms and PhD candidate in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems

Moderator: Helen Spiegelman